BPI Family Savings seeks to expand lending by 15%

BPI Family Savings Bank, the thrift banking arm of the Bank of the Philippine Islands, is seeking to expand its lending portfolio by 15% next year on the back of strong growth seen in the provinces and as mortgage and auto loans are seen to drive the growth.

The bank is currently “tracking Php200 billion” in loans and it targets to “cross” that level by yearend,” BPI Family Savings Bank, Senior Vice-President, Retail Loans Cristina L. Go told reporters in a briefing yesterday.

“Our numbers show really fast growth in the last five years, which mirrored -- double the size of retail loans... [for] 2016 we’re still targeting 15% loan growth,” Ms. Go said.

BPI Family ended 2014 with a Php173-billion loan portfolio, accounting for 25% of BPI’s total loan portfolio.

As of the first half, BPI Family’s retail loans were already up 20% with 54% or Php107 billion of the total coming from housing loans.

“Growth is more broad-based with loans more affordable -- housing, micro enterprises, auto dealership... in value, housing loans are big but in terms of volume, auto dealerships is higher,” Ms. Go said.

She noted that Php60 billion or 30% of the Php200-billion loan portfolio target for 2015 will come from provincial, attributed to real estate development booming outside Metro Manila, car dealerships rising in provinces and small and medium enterprises “more alive” in the countryside.

“We’ve seen growth in provincial -- at 25% -- outpace the general Metro Manila area, which is at 15-18%,” Ms. Go further said.

The bank continues to be “positive and optimistic” given the country’s current scenario where “forecasts are very positive” and as overseas Filipinos “have more propensity to avail of house, car, and business [loans], she added. “Home, car and business are their top priority in investments. They’re hoping to come here, retire here.” BPI Family has around 180,000 clients.

Moving forward, Ms. Go said BPI Family plans to put up 19 branches, mostly in areas outside Metro Manila to service the growing market in the provinces.

The thrift arm of Ayala-led BPI currently has 185 branches. Earlier, BPI Family Savings Bank President Natividad N. Alejo said putting up a single branch is estimated to cost the bank about Php8-10 million.

Although she declined then to disclose BPI Family’s net earnings in 2014, Ms. Go noted that BPI Family Savings Bank has always posted good earnings since it is BPI’s consumer unit and “the consumer market is very strong.”

BPI Family’s listed parent BPI posted Php9.3 billion in net earnings in the January to June period, up 16% from the year-ago level of Php8 billion.

Shares in BPI closed at Php86.10 each yesterday, up 50 centavos or 0.58%.

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Vernon Joseph Go is a Corporate Mad Hatter passionate about learning, technology, simplified finance as well as Inclusive Businesses through Social Entre/Intrapreneurship Development by bridging purpose and profit.